Chapter 8, Verse 13
ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन्मामनुस्मरन् | यः प्रयाति त्यजन्देहं स याति परमां गतिम् ||८-१३||
omityekākṣaraṃ brahma vyāharanmāmanusmaran . yaḥ prayāti tyajandehaṃ sa yāti paramāṃ gatim ||8-13||
Meaning
8.13 Uttering the one-syllabled Om the Brahman and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving the body, attains to the Supreme Goal.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna completes the technique by adding its sacred sound. The one who, while leaving the body, utters the single syllable Om — the very sound-form of Brahman — and at the same time remembers the Lord, attains the supreme goal (param gatim).
Two elements are joined here: the sound and the remembrance. Om (ekaksharam brahma) is the primordial vibration, the audible symbol of the imperishable. But Krishna is careful to add mam anusmaran — 'remembering Me.' The sacred syllable is not a mechanical incantation; it carries the soul only when filled with loving remembrance of the Divine to whom it points. Sound and devotion together lift consciousness to its highest destination. This is the crown of the practice begun in the previous verses: senses stilled, mind gathered, breath raised, and now the heart resounding with Om and full of God, the seeker passes into the supreme state.
💡 Key Takeaway
Let your sacred practice be sound joined to love: the syllable Om carries you home only when filled with remembrance of the Divine.
Related Verses
अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन | प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभिः ||८-२||
adhiyajñaḥ kathaṃ ko.atra dehe.asminmadhusūdana . prayāṇakāle ca kathaṃ jñeyo.asi niyatātmabhiḥ ||8-2||
8.2 Who and how is Adhiyajna here in this body, O destroyer of Madhu (Krishna)? And how at the time of death, art Thou to be known by the self-controlled?
अन्तकाले च मामेव स्मरन्मुक्त्वा कलेवरम् | यः प्रयाति स मद्भावं याति नास्त्यत्र संशयः ||८-५||
antakāle ca māmeva smaranmuktvā kalevaram . yaḥ prayāti sa madbhāvaṃ yāti nāstyatra saṃśayaḥ ||8-5||
8.5 And whosoever, leaving the body, goes forth remembering Me alone, at the time of death, he attains My Being: there is no doubt about this.
यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम् | तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावितः ||८-६||
yaṃ yaṃ vāpi smaranbhāvaṃ tyajatyante kalevaram . taṃ tamevaiti kaunteya sadā tadbhāvabhāvitaḥ ||8-6||
8.6 Whosoever at the end leaves the body, thinking of any being, to that being only does he go, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), because of his constant thought of that being.